2016 July-Aug - JACL Chicago

July/August 2016
No. 116
A publication of the
JACL Chicago Chapter
In this Issue:
JACL Transition: The Work of JACL Continues . . .
page 1 JACL Transition: The Work of
JACL Continues . . .
page 2 Farewell to Christine!
page 3 The Manzanar Fishing Club
Screening and Director Q&A
page 4 2016 JACL Scholarship
Luncheon
page 5 2016 Chicago Nikkei
Community Annual Memorial
Day Commemoration
page 6 Kansha Project Culmination
page 7 5 Year Reflection
page 8 Kansha Project 2016
Reflection
page 8 2016 Kansha Reflection
page 10 Reflection on Kansha 2016
page 11 Thank You to Our Donors
and Advertisers
page 12 Calendar of Events
2016 JACL Chicago Golf
Tournament
see page 3
Facing Forward:
A Panel Discussion
see page 11 for more information
By Bill Yoshino
U
ncertainty often accompanies
periods of transition unless it is used
as a time to refocus and rededicate
our commitment in ways that will advance
efforts to carry out JACL’s core mission.
JACL president, David Lin, and members
of the National Board have asked me
to serve in the interim until a new JACL
executive director is selected.
I accepted because after all the years I’ve
served on the JACL staff, I continue to
believe this organization has the capacity
to be a leader especially in areas such as
education and youth development while
still tending to issues of social justice that
have defined our history and truly improved
the lives of Japanese Americans.
There will be challenges, even in this
transition period. Within the last two
weeks, JACL has lost the services of two
full-time professional staff members. We
wish the best to Priscilla Ouchida and
Christine Munteanu. And yet, even with
their resignations, we haven’t decreased
our program portfolio and activities,
placing even more responsibility on
existing staff to perform.
So, what’s on our program horizon, and
what can you expect from your national
staff? Our national convention is scheduled
for July 11-14, in Las Vegas. Our goal will
be to successfully conduct the business
of JACL where the National Council will
elect new officers, debate policy issues,
recognize our awardees, find renewal in
the inspiring words of our presenters, and
importantly, approve a biennial budget,
which proposes to reduce staff positions
even further, a prospect that will clearly
weaken our organization.
After the convention and extending
into early August, we will implement an
education program funded by a grant
from the National Endowment for the
Humanities where we will host two
weeklong sessions with 72 teachers
from throughout the country. The
teachers will tour the Japanese American
National Museum, attend presentations
given by experts on many aspects of
the incarceration including by former
incarcerees. They will visit Santa Anita and
Manzanar to bear witness to those places
of confinement during WWII.
In September we will begin conducting
the next the Kakehashi program, a unique
opportunity for students and young
adults to gain insight into a variety of
fields including the culture, politics, and
economics of Japan. Beginning with trips
in September, the program will host 200
Continued on page 2
1
JACL Transition continued
participants in three groups extending into
early 2017.
Securing and maintaining the civil
rights of Japanese Americans and
all others who are victimized by
injustice and bigotry.
Article submission deadline for
our next issue is 8/19/16.
The JACLer is published by the JACL
Chicago Chapter for its members,
supporters, and friends. We welcome
your comments, suggestions, and
article submissions.
For More Information
For information about the JACL
Chicago Chapter, call 773.728.7171,
or visit www.jaclchicago.org
Contact Us
JACL Chicago Chapter
5415 North Clark Street
Chicago, Illinois 60640-1294
Phone: 773.728.7171
Fax: 773.728.7231
Email: chicago@jacl.org
Web: www.jaclchicago.org
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2
Throughout the fall our civic engagement
program, funded through a grant from
the Coulter Foundation, will challenge our
chapters and members to engage in voter
registration, voter education, and get-outthe-vote efforts to be active participants
in citizenship responsibilities. Of course,
there are additional important programs
such as scholarship, NY/SC, Legacy Fund
grants, leadership, and the Smithsonian
project beckons as a centerpiece in
2017, when we commemorate the 75th
anniversary of the signing of EO 9066.
I am hopeful the JACL National Board
will move quickly with its search and
selection process to identify and hire a
JACL executive director. In the meantime,
to see us through this period of transition,
we have a staff composed of experienced
and committed individuals including Patty
Wada, Tomiko Ismail, Stephanie Nitahara,
Matt Walters, Mariko Fujimoto, and Mei
Kuang. In addition, we value our energetic
fellows and interns, Merissa Nakamura,
Emil Trinidad, Malin Ouk, and Jennifer Kaku.
There is much to do. We need your
cooperation. The work of JACL continues.
Farewell to Christine!
By Carol Yoshino, JACL Chicago Member
S
ome six (or maybe closer to seven)
years ago, a young woman applied
to National JACL for a position as
the Ford Fund Fellow at the Midwest JACL
Office. She had outstanding credentials:
a bachelors degree from Wesleyan
University, a stint as an AmeriCorps
volunteer with work experience with
the then Asian American Institute (now
known Advancing Justice). A native of
New Brunswick, New Jersey, Christine
Munteanu had moved to Chicago to start
her career — and we JACLers, especially
in Chicago, have greatly benefitted from
her contributions.
During her tenure Christine has become
a part of our Chicago JA community and
grown in her expertise in becoming an
integral part in creating JACL Chicago’s
Project Community! designed for high
school students and Project Community
Day Camp for kids between 6 and 10
years old. Then came the Kansha Project.
Christine has been the driving force in
establishing this project for young adults
as well as its offshoot Kansha Too! for
adults held last September. In each of
these programs, Christine showed her
creative skills in establishing program
content that would be both meaningful
as well as fun for the young participants.
The young students, teenagers, young
adults, and “regular” adults all learned a
great deal from her program designs and
admired her for her unfailing commitment
to her work.
A few years ago, Christine’s Ford
Fellowship turned into a full-time job as
Assistant Program Director with JACL
National. Her portfolio included working
on anti-defamation and hate crime issues,
conducting multiracial identity workshops
at national educational conferences as
well as at campus student conferences,
working with JACL’s National Youth
Student Council, and in her “spare” time,
writing numerous grants to fund JACL
programs, as well as earning a Masters in
Education in Youth Development from the
University of Illinois Chicago.
So it is with deep regret that we say
“farewell to Christine” from her JACL
National staff and JACL Chicago
duties, as she takes the next step in her
blooming career as Assistant Director
for Multicultural Student Affairs at
Northwestern University.
Christine, you have our utmost admiration,
respect, and gratitude for your commitment
to JACL, our Japanese American
community, and for simply being our
wonderful friend! While we will miss you
day-to-day, we know we will still see you as
you continue being “one of us.”
2016 JACL Chicago Golf Tournament
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Glenview Park Golf Club
800 Shermer Road, Glenview, IL
9:00 am
Cost: $85/golfer ( Lunch will be served after golf.)
Please RSVP to the JACL office by July 15th.
Go to jaclchicago.org for information and registration form.
The Manzanar Fishing Club Screening and Director Q&A
O
n Tuesday, June 14th, JACL Chicago hosted a free
screening of The Manzanar Fishing Club and a Q&A with
the producer/director, Cory Shiozaki at Christ Church of
Chicago. Over 130 community members attended the event!
Cory Shiozaki is a sansei with family roots in Chicago. He is also
a docent at the Manzanar National Historic Site and a licensed
and bonded trout fishing guide for the Eastern Sierra. The
Manzanar Fishing Club was an idea that was first conceived in
2004, and after years of research and collecting interviews and
stories, the documentary was released in 2012. The Manzanar
Fishing Club has received several awards and has been featured
many times for screening events on the West and East coasts.
But this was the first time the film was shown in the Midwest.
The evening began with screening the documentary which set
the historical backdrop of the Japanese American incarceration
during WWII and the struggle that came along with that
experience. The film then goes on to share the stories of men
and women who would sneak out of the Manzanar concentration
camp to go fishing in the nearby streams and mountains. They
would later return to the barbed wire enclosure. The powerful
stories in the film demonstrate resilience, creativity, and just a
human desire to be free.
During the Q&A portion of the event, Cory answered questions
from attendees and was able to give additional insights about
Manzanar, the incarceration, and the internal struggle that
many experienced. In addition to this, about a half dozen former
internees attended the event. We had the privilege of hearing
some of their first-hand stories from places like Manzanar and
Terminal Island. Several people also commented on how this film
and story relates to current issues of discrimination including
anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment.
This event was made possible by the volunteers who provided
snacks and helped make sure everything went smoothly, the
support of Christ
Church of
Chicago, who
donated the use
of their space and
equipment, and a
grant from Illinois
Humanities, the
National
Endowment for
the Humanities,
and the Illinois
General Assembly.
I hope we can
continue to
provide
opportunities for
our community
to come together
and explore
our history!
Photo: Susan Takaki
By Mari Yamagiwa, JACL Chicago AmeriCorps VISTA
Director Cory Shiozaki answers audience questions at
the screening of
The Manzanar Fishing Club.
2016 JACL National
Convention
July 12 – July 15
Monte Carlo Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
For more information go to
www.jacl.org/2016convention
3
2016 JACL Chicago Scholarship Luncheon
By Judy Tanaka, JACL Chicago Scholarship Chair and Board Member
J
ACL Chicago Scholarships were
recently awarded to six outstanding
students. More than fifty JACL
members, supporters, students and
their families attended the JACL Chicago
Scholarship Luncheon on May 22 to
celebrate the students’ achievements and
recognize the people on behalf of whom
the scholarships were donated.
Robert Mita, JACL Chicago Community
Outreach Co-chair and parent of three
past scholarship recipients, served as
emcee. Megan Nakano, JACL Chicago
President Emeritus, spoke eloquently to
the attentive audience:
As tradition, the luncheon profiled each
student awardee as well as described the
scholarship that was being awarded. The
students and their awards are listed
below. The chapter thanks the generous
donors and JACL Sponsor-A-Grad
supporters who make the scholarship
program possible. Also, appreciation is
extended to the dedicated and hardworking scholarship committee of Bob
Brown, Marisa Fujinaka, Rosemary Lee,
Joyce Morimoto, Christine Munteanu,
Megan Nakano, Rebecca Ozaki,
and Ken Yoshitani.
2016 JACL Chicago Scholarship Winners.
Top Row : Mary Coomes, James Ozaki, Dellinger Sato, and Ryan Chiou
Bottom Row : Elizabeth Oda and Arielle K atz
Like Us on Facebook!
4
www.facebook.com/JACLChicago
2016 JACL Chicago
Scholarship Winners
John Iwaoka Memorial Scholarship
Ryan Chiou,
Highland Park High School
Mas Nakagawa Memorial Scholarship
Dellinger Sato,
Luther College
Hank and Mary Sakai
Memorial Scholarship
Arielle Katz,
Glenbrook North High School
Mitzi Shi Schectman
Memorial Scholarship
Elizabeth Oda,
Aurora Christian High School
Chiye Tomihiro Memorial Scholarship
Mary Coomes,
University of Chicago
James Ozaki,
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
June 9, 2016
De ar Chicago
Photo: Robert Brown
“Our founders chose the name
Japanese American Citizens League
very deliberately. Back in 1929, they
understood the value of their citizenship
and the freedoms and rights that were
promised with it. Their pride in their
citizenship made their treatment during
WWII that much more insulting….. It is
the charge of our legacy to ensure that all
guests and citizens alike feel welcomed in
this country and that their civil rights be
protected. We must hold our politicians
and each other accountable to a higher
American ideal.”
This also marks the first year that the
Chiye Tomihiro Memorial Scholarship
was presented, funded by her generous
bequest to JACL. In addition to serving
as chapter president, board member and
dedicated JACL member, Ms. Tomihiro
shared her WWII experience in many
forums including in testimony before
the Commission on Wartime Relocation
and Internment of Civilians. Her purpose
was to educate so that the injustice of
internment would not reoccur.
JACL Scholarsh
ip Committee,
I am de eply ho
nored and beyo
nd gratef ul to JA
se lecting me as
CL for
the re cipient of
the 2016 John
Memorial Scho
Iw
aoka
larship. I cannot
thank you enou
for your ge nero
gh
sit y. Af ter my br
other, Tyler, pa
away from neur
ssed
oblastoma canc
er, I have know
it is my purpos
n that
e in life to find
a cure for this
pediatric canc
malicious
er. I was thrilled
when I was ac
at Washington
cepted
University in St
. Louis, re nown
medical re se ar
ed for its
ch opportunities
, but I was unce
how I was going
rtain
to af ford such
an expe nsive tu
now have JACL
ition. I
to thank for he
lping me pursue
dream of finding
my
the cure for ne
uroblastoma ca
ncer.
It is be cause of
JACL’s ge nero
sit y that I am m
motivated than
ore
ever to re ach th
at goal that I se
myself 11 ye ar
t for
s ago. I will hono
r John Iwaoka’s
by pushing mys
dream
elf with incre as
ed determinatio
be coming a m
n and
ore involved M
ember within JA
back and pass
CL to give
the gif t forward.
I would like to
fund a scholar
someday
ship for JACL of
my own. Thank
again for giving
you
me the opportu
nit y to follow m
and honor my
y dream
brother Tyler’s
de ath and John
legacy.
Iwaoka’s
Sincerely,
Ryan Chiou
2016 Chicago Nikkei Community Annual Memorial Day Commemoration
By Erik Matsunaga
I
n 1935, the Japanese Mutual Aid
Society of Chicago began purchasing
burial plots at Montrose Cemetery
on the city’s North Side. Due to
discrimination of the day, Montrose was
one of few cemeteries in the area that
would inter the remains of deceased
persons of Japanese ancestry. In
1937 the Mutual Aid Society erected
a Japanese Mausoleum and in 1938
began hosting an annual Memorial Day
commemoration.
Prior to this, however, there were roughly
400 documented persons of Japanese
ancestry living in Chicago, who were
not affected by E.O. 9066’s mass
incarceration. Because the West Coast
remained closed to Japanese Americans
until 1945, many resettled in Chicago
due to its wealth of employment and
educational opportunities. Through work
and study early-release programs, and
finally the closure of the camps, from
1942-1945 the Japanese American
population in Chicago swelled from 400
to over 20,000.
The Japanese Mutual Aid Society was
instrumental in assisting these early
re-settlers with housing, translation, as
well as medical and legal services. As
subsequent organizations were formed
to lighten the load of transitioning former
internees into their new homes, the Mutual
Aid Society reverted to its maintenance of
the mausoleum and purchasing of burial
plots on behalf of the community.
2016 marked the 78th annual Chicago
Japanese American Community Memorial
Day Commemoration at Montrose
Cemetery’s Japanese Mausoleum. With
Above : Posting of
colors by
Chicago Nisei
Post #1183.
Right: The Chicago
Soyokaze Chorus, under
the direction of
Mr.
Photos Tom Yatabe
The majority of Japanese Americans in
the Chicago area today are descendants
of late 19th and early 20th century
immigrants who, along with their
American-born children, fell victim
to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
Executive Order 9066, which forcibly
removed all persons of Japanese
ancestry from the West Coast in 1942,
spreading them among ten concentration
camps further inland.
Hisashi Shoji.
approximately two hundred-fifty people
in attendance, it set under way at 11
a.m. with the Posting of the Colors by
Chicago Nisei Post #1183’s Color Guard.
Founded in 1949 by World War II veterans
as the Rome Arno Post, the American
Legion Chicago Nisei Post—which it
was renamed in 1953—counts over 200
members nationwide from all branches
of the military, representing veterans
of campaigns dating from World War II
through the present.
Ceremony emcee Robert Kumaki, Vice
President of the Japanese Mutual Aid
Society, followed with both opening
remarks outlining the historical context
of Montrose Cemetery with regard to
the Nikkei community, and introductions
of a series of bilingual Japanese/
English prayers, chants, and songs led
by the clergy and choirs of Chicago’s
various Nikkei religious groups. An
offering of flowers was then presented
by representatives of several Chicago
Japanese American organizations.
The torch of Chicago’s Japanese
American community’s leadership has
been passed through the generations
from the founding Issei of the pre-war
period to the largely resettled post-war
Nisei, and now the Sansei who have been
raised as native Chicagoans. As a Yonsei
I have begun attending community events
with my Gosei children, and see others
doing the same.
On a personal note, 2016 is the 112th
anniversary of my Japanese ancestors’
arrival to the United States. For all their
battles with discrimination and trials
toward becoming accepted as fully
American, I think the Issei generation
would be heartened to know that their
lives and contributions, as well as those
of their American-born descendants
who fought and died under the U.S. Flag
on the world’s battlefields, have allowed
for us to finally be able to assemble
at will for such events without suspicion
or hostility.
5
Kansha Project Culmination
By Lane Mita, JACL Chicago Youth Committee Co-Chair, ALB Finance Committee Chair
Each year, following the trip to LA
and Manzanar National Historic Site,
participants share their experience and
reflections with the Japanese American
community in Chicago. Originally,
participants created videos that captured
their time in California, but the facilitators
believed that the participants could
appreciate their experience more without
having to record everything. This year,
the participants were able to share their
experience through a medium of their
choosing. Projects that were on display
included art, spoken word reflections, a
coloring book, and picture albums among
other projects. It was a great change of
pace for the program. Every time I go to a
culmination I leave feeling inspired by the
passion of the program participants.
During this year’s “Question and Answer”
portion, I noticed that members of the
community want to see this program grow
into a national prospect. I definitely would
love to see this becoming a national
program, but I believe that our ALB needs
to grow first. Our program coordinator,
Christine Munteanu, worked hard behind
the scenes and successfully guided the
ALB during its pilot year. Christine has
done so much for our community, and
we thank her for all of her work as her
time with the JACL has come to an end.
The ALB is always considering ways we
can further develop the Kansha Project,
and perhaps it may one day expand to a
national program.
I greatly appreciate the community
coming out and showing their support for
the Kansha Project! The Alumni
Leadership Board had set a fundraising
6
goal of $15,000 in January of this year.
Throughout the past few months, the
Alumni Leadership Board held fundraising
events at the Nisei Lounge in Wrigleyville
and Lou Malnati’s Pizza in Lincolnwood.
The Kansha Project is also funded by the
JACL Legacy Fund Grant program, the
Chicago Japanese American Council, and
many individual donors! The alumni board
is proud to present to the community that
we have exceeded our goal of $15,000
and we have raised $15,187! We would
not be here without the support of the
community and we’re looking forward to
the future of the Kansha Project.
1
2
ΠK ansha participants respond
during
Q & A.
 K ansha participant Miki Takeshita
has a discussion with
JACL Board
Member, Pat Yuzawa-Rubin.
Ž K ansha Participants Greg Kimura
and
Kristin Osakada at a K ansha
3
Project display.
 K ansha Project Alumni and
Alumni Leadership Board thank
Christine Munteanu for her
development and dedication to the
K ansha Project program.
4
Photos: Robert Brown
I
have to say being a part of the Kansha
Project has been such a rewarding
experience. I was able to channel some
of my enthusiasm for the program through
the Alumni Leadership Board (ALB) where
I am the chair on the Finance Committee.
The Kansha Project has grown so much
over the years, and this year marked the
5th year anniversary. I had the opportunity
to emcee this year’s culmination, which
was held at the Skokie Banquet and
Conference Center on June 18th.
5 Year Reflection
By Rebecca Ozaki, JACL Chicago Youth Committee Co-Chair, ALB Program Committee Chair
Five years ago, the Kansha Project
began a movement in our community.
For many of us, the Kansha Project
was the first time we found people
like Christine Munteanu, Bill Yoshino,
John Tateishi, and other Kansha
participants that made us feel like we
belong and that we have a stake in the
future of our ever-changing Japanese
American community. Five years
later, we’ve returned from the 2016
Kansha Project where Alumni of the
program spent the past nine months
planning, implementing, and facilitating
the trip (thanks to our fearless
leader, Christine). As a facilitator on
the trip, it was powerful to see our
hard work manifest itself, to see the
direct impact of the Kansha Project
on this year’s brilliant participants,
and most importantly to hear how
they are planning to be involved in
the Japanese American community
moving forward. It’s even more
powerful to know that the Kansha Project can be a fully youthdriven community project because it shows that although the
city of Chicago is dwindling in physical community space and
Japanese American owned institutions, we are simultaneously
growing our youth power to connect our community beyond
physical boundaries.
During the Kansha Project, we hear the stories of leaders from
the past that have given my generation the opportunity to
create the community we want to believe in. Leaders like Yuri
Kochiyama, Fred Korematsu, my grandfather-Sam Ozaki, and
Bill Yoshino have shown us what justice, compassion, and
community look like. What I learned from the Kansha Project
this year is that we do not all need
to be civil rights leaders to move
our community forward and reflect
social justice values but we do need
to find our own place in this story in
a way that makes the most sense for
each of us. We need to understand
the history of the community and
make sure we stand next to other
marginalized communities
in solidarity.
Standing in Manzanar concentration
camp watching those paper cranes
move in the wind made me feel like
healing has begun for me and the
community. We are rebuilding the
Japanese American community into
the space that we want to see.
As we transform and look forward to
the next five years of the Kansha
Project, I’m excited to figure out
together what we want our community
to be and what communities we will
stand in solidarity with to make this
happen. In the next five years, we
can potentially expand the program
beyond Chicago and we have opportunity to bridge communities
through having other community youth participate in the Kansha
Project. In the next five years, the Kansha Project might look
different but the impact will be the same. Let’s figure out what
that looks like together.
Photo: John Adachi
I
stood at the Manzanar cemetery staring out at the mountains
with the wind gusting; forcing flocks of colorful paper cranes
to glide across the dirt, getting stuck in the shrubs outside
the wooden fence. The silence forced me to reflect on what has
changed the community since the last time I stood in that spot in
2012, during the Inaugural year of the Kansha Project and more
importantly, where the Kansha Project
is headed.
Buy A KANSHA Project T-shirt!
$15 plus shipping
(All profit goes to the Kansha Project.)
Call the JACL Chicago office for details. 773.728.7171
Or order online at www.jaclchicago.org
7
Kansha Project 2016 Reflection
By Miki Takeshita, Kansha Project Participant
“
In February 1942, the War Relocation
Authority began to establish centers
where Japanese Americans, including
those born in the United States, were
interned. Though this was clearly racial
discrimination that violated constitutional
due process requirements, the Supreme
Court ruled that such internment
was lawful in 1944, when it decided
Korematsu v. United States.”
These were the two sentences written in
my US history textbook that I used in high
school. That was it. Only two sentences.
Just two incredibly reductive sentences
that are a complete insult to the Japanese
Americans who lived through this horrible
experience.
As an 11th grader who used this textbook
during her US History course, I merely
glossed over these two sentences, not
understanding the significance of their
emptiness. Since then, I have declared
a history major and am currently in the
process of researching for my senior
thesis, but I have to admit that I’ve
become largely desensitized to history.
From the day I read those two sentences
to my last day of history class just two
weeks ago, I’ve come to realize that I’ve
liked history because it was intellectually
stimulating. I liked the process of doing
research, liked touching old documents
or objects in the archival center or
formulating an argument in my head and
piecing all pieces of the puzzle together. I
liked learning about people’s stories, as
long as they weren’t traumatic or in any
way related to mine. It’s easy to write
about displaced tenants in postwar
New York when you’re not one. It’s easy
to write about the Chinese during the
Opium War when you’re not one. And
when you go to a school like mine that
emphasizes the life of the mind, it’s easy
to get caught up on theory rather than
the real importance of history, like what
it can teach us about humanity and what
lessons we can learn from it.
This trip has deeply instilled in me two
lessons that have allowed me to grow
as a historian, something that school
was not able to teach me. One is that
history is a mish mash of individual
experiences that have shaped the
course of events. It is not dictated by a
common one-stream narrative that has
been fed to us constantly. The Japanese
American experience cannot be limited
to a narrative, because it is incredibly
diverse and complex. There were ruptures
in the Japanese American community
over the loyalty questionnaire, whose two
questions broke apart families. Further
ruptures in the family happened when at
the mess hall kids would eat with other
kids and not with their families. Tensions
arose during the talks of reparations. We
learned about the generational divide,
and how the Sansei were inspired by the
Civil Rights Movement to bring justice
to their parents. We learned about how
the very organization that organizes the
Kansha Project was in hot water 40 years
ago for even bringing it up in the first
place. These are the things that should be
written about in textbooks.
Even this group reflects the diversity of
the Japanese American community. We
don’t consist of only people whose family
members were incarcerated. I am a ShinNisei, whose family wasn’t incarcerated,
and there are some others on the trip
whose family members have never been
in the incarceration camps either. Some
of us live in Boston, Hawaii, New York.
We have different career paths, different
personal interests. Some of us speak
Japanese, some of us don’t.
But this trip brought a halt to our lives
and brought us together to the same
place. I find it profound that despite our
differences many of us at this time were
probably asking the same questions in
our head about our identity and what
it means to be a Japanese American.
And what this trip has provided me is
a visceral experience, one that would
2016 Kansha Reflection
By Lisa Doi, ALB Program Committee Member
The Kansha Project started a four year
long funeral. I thought the Japanese
American community was dying and I was
looking for a way to embalm the
memories. But returning to work on this
years’ Kansha Project with the ALB
8
changed my mind. This is a story of birth,
of non-linear time. Watching the way that
the group grew and changed over four
short days showed me that the Japanese
American community in Chicago is
growing, drawing on sources I could never
have imagined. The way forward draws
from the past, but is not completely
beholden to it.
K ansha Project participants with Alan Nishio and
Stephanie Nitahara at the Home is Little Tokyo mural.
Photo: Lisa Doi
M
y grandparents passed away the
year before I participated in the
Kansha project. After traveling to
Little Tokyo and Manzanar, I realized that
there were so many questions that I could
never ask. Were they scared? How was
the food? Did they ever see their homes
again? The answers died with them.
Photo: Kenji Negi
paragraphs because
not have happened
this is not just
if I had stayed in
Japanese American
Chicago and just read
history; this is
some books on my
American history,
own. We all felt the
and it deserves to
dust raging at our
be treated as such.
faces and our bare
And a big part of
knees at Manzanar,
that must be a full
whether we were
incorporation of the
out in the field doing
incarceration camp
service work under
experience in school
the sweltering sun
curricula. Just two
and felt the eyes
hours after returning
of tourists looking
from Manzanar, I
at us like we were
was in Santa Monica
an exhibit, or if we
where I saw a man
were out on our own
preaching hateful
walking through the
lies about Islam to
barracks, listening
a group of curious
to the stories of the
onlookers. If most
incarcerees and
of them believed
taking in the silence
him, they will tell
of our surroundings.
K ansha Project participants and chaperones visit the cemetery at Manzanar National Historic Site with
their friends and
We all felt the
National Park Staff.
family, who will
vibrancy of Little
tell their friends
Tokyo as it strives
and family. This is
to become a more
the kind of rhetoric that got Japanese
I felt myself wanting to return to the
inclusive neighborhood that is warding
Americans incarcerated in the first place.
comfort of Manzanar, surrounded by the
off those who do not respect the space,
How do you teach empathy? How do
beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains and
we all sat in that one room at the Whitney
you get people to feel the dust, to feel
by those that I had started to consider
Portal Hostel just last Friday and shared
the heat, to empathize with the sadness
family. Was this in any way reminiscent of
our vulnerabilities. We all came together
and the trauma of a community they don’t
the same uncertainty the Nisei felt when
as a community to deal with the trauma
identify with? Now that people are fighting
they left the camps, their future unknown,
and grief of learning about our identity
ideologies rather than an actual country,
with only $25 and a train ticket in hand?
and legacy as Japanese Americans.
how does this change how the Japanese
Did they also feel uncertain about leaving
Leaving Los Angeles and going on the
American community can support those
behind their community?
plane to New York, separated from
who are subject to discrimination and
This uncertainty will continue to persist
the others who were headed back to
hate crimes?
as I go about my life figuring out my
Chicago, left me feeling uncertain and
I don’t really know the answers to these
passions and interests. But one thing
shaken. As I started my job that morning,
questions. But this is something I’ve
is certain: there needs to be a dramatic
I wondered if others felt the same as
committed myself to thinking about,
reform of the way Japanese American
they resumed their daily life activities. I
and I am incredibly grateful for the
history is taught, not only to vindicate
wondered, what’s next for me? While
chance I had to ask them and to be in
the Japanese American community but
the rest of my summer days were
conversation with other Japanese
to further prevent the discrimination
predictable, I felt somewhat lost. Many
Americans on these hard topics. It’s a
and even incarceration of other minority
of us had talked about our own personal
dialogue that I’m hoping to continue with
communities. The mainstream narrative
uncertainties, like where we stand in the
all of you and many other members of
must be dismantled to include the stories
Japanese American community, what
the Japanese and non-Japanese
of individual experiences, oral histories,
steps we take now to become more
community as my responsibility.
and how the aftereffects of the camp
involved in the community, quarter-life
experience still is prevalent today. It
crises, figuring out if we wanted to stay
deserves more than two sentences or two
in Chicago or move elsewhere. Ironically
9
Reflection on Kansha 2016
In the camp’s museum this past weekend
I happened across a guestbook that had
been laid out for visitors to record their
thoughts. There was a lot of beauty in
those pages. Then I glimpsed something
that seized my attention.
“Make America Great Again!
Vote Donald Trump!
Let’s do this to the Muslims!”
To see this scribbled on the side of a
building somewhere, or on a sign at
a white nationalist rally is an entirely
different experience than finding it written
in a safe place that is supposed to belong
to us. Someone ostensibly drove hours
into the middle of the desert to stain this
sacred space with their prejudice.
Two years ago, in the town neighboring
Manzanar, we visited a Chinese restaurant
for dinner, where everyone quickly delved
into our food with exhausted smiles. After
spending the day working in the desert,
as we ate I was wearing my kufiyah (a
traditional Middle Eastern headscarf),
when an older white waiter stormed past
me and tore it off my head. Stunned, I
returned the garment to my head. No
one else had seemed to notice. The man
(the restaurant’s owner!) re-approached
and demanded that I take that thing off
my head right now. Confused, I voiced
protest. I didn’t know what was going on.
He demanded again that I remove the
garment, and I told him firmly but shaking,
no. He stormed off, but continued to
glare for the rest of the meal. Our group,
shaken, cried in the hostel for what felt
like hours afterwards.
When an act of prejudice occurs so near
to an intimate place that is supposed
to be sacred, it wounds twice over. The
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violence is, in a sense,
doubled. It robs a
vulnerable community
of what precious
sense of security they
have. This is what
happened when a
white supremacist
terrorist shot up
a black church in
Charleston last
summer. With news of
Some of the K ansha Project participants and facilitators in front of the
the shooting of a gay
Japanese American National Museum.
nightclub in Orlando
this Sunday, once
again a marginalized
to encroach upon our identities, maiming
community is feeling similarly shaken.
our dignity and self-sufficiency. As a
These are supposed to be sanctuaries
Japanese American, powerful interests
that are protected from wider currents
will try to parcel you apart, claiming that
of exclusion and prejudice, not their
you cannot be all of who you are. And
epicenters.
yet as the poet Lucille Clifton writes:
On our first day in Little Tokyo, we were
“come celebrate with me — every day
taken on a political tour by Alan Nishio
something has tried to kill me and has
and Stephanie Nitahara. As we walked
failed.” Something has tried to crush and
around the neighborhood, we heard
silence us, and it has failed. Ha! Won’t
compelling
you sing with
stories of
me? We need
the various
to speak, to
ways that the
sing, to dance
neighborhood
and write and
has long
dream and
resisted
tell our stories,
incursions
particularly
by powerful
the stories
city interests
of the camp
who seek to
experiences,
extinguish the
because no
community’s
one else will.
authentic
I am so
Japanese
grateful for the
American
opportunity to
identity through
work, laugh,
political bullying Alan Nishio leads K ansha Project participants on a political
and cry
and gentrifying. tour of Little Tokyo.
alongside
They would
this year’s
rather carve
participants.
this space
They are the true players here. I pray that
into parking lots and yuppie kitsch, we
our community is there to support them
learned, than let its original inhabitants
when they need it most. Our future as
thrive. But the community is fighting back.
Nikkei is in very good hands.
It struck me on the final day of our trip:
we are each a Little Tokyo. There are
vast forces outside of each of us trying
Photo: Lisa Doi
A
s a member of the Kansha Alumni
Board, I helped chaperone this
year’s trip to Los Angeles and
Manzanar. I first attended the Kansha
Project as a participant two years ago,
where I was cut to the heart. There, I met
a community that I didn’t know I was a
part of. Manzanar left me altered, marked
and sent away with a new theology, a new
community, even a new name.
Photo: Kenji Negi
By Kenji Kuramitsu, ALB Program Committee Member
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JACL Chicago Office, 5415 N. Clark Street, Chicago
July 11 – 14
JACL National Convention
Las Vegas, NV
Tuesday, July 19
6:30 – 8 PM
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Japanese Americans and Community
JASC, 4427 N. Clark Street, Chicago
Thursday, July 21
9 AM
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11 AM
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Ginza Holiday Festival
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